Rail-joint.



w. P. THOMSON.

RAIL JOINT.

. APPLICATION FILED MAR. I3, 1916- Patented Dec. 12,1916.

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RAIL JOINT.

7 "1,208,698. Patented Dec. 12,1916.-

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WILLIAM I. THOMSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOB 'I O THE RAIL J OI1\TTCOMPAN Y,

. OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

' nun-mm.

Application filed March 18, 1916- Serial No. 83,885.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM P. THOM- SON, acitizen of the United States, residing at New York city, in the countyof New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Rail-Joints, of which the following is a specification.I

This invention relates to rail joints, and has special reference to anovel and practical improvement in splice bars whereby the clampingeffect against the rail ends is materially improved and automaticallypro longed as wear takes place.

According to the present invention it is proposed to improve theclamping action of splice bars by providing a bar of full fishing heightat the center, but whose ends are of reduced fishing height, so that thelatter may be flexed inwardly toward the rail webs, under thecompression of the joint bolts, to place the central part of the barunder a constant and persisting clamping Thus, the bar will exert agreater.

force. clamping effect immediately adjacent the rail ends, than iscustomary, since, in addition to the ,usual pressure of. the centraljoint bolts, the compression of the end bolts .is, by means of thepresent invention, also communicated to the center of the vloar wherepersistent clamping and supporting efiect is needed even after thebearing surfaces become worn.-

Accordingly, it is to be noted that the present invention has primarilyinview a splice bar construction which produces a maximum clamping forceimmediately adjacent the rail ends.

In a practical aspect this feature of the invention is of muchimportance. That is to say, a.bar having this characteristic moreeffectually provides for I taking up the variable amount of wear whichoccurs at different places throughout the length of the joint, moreespecially at the center than at the ends. Also, the improvedconstruction provides a nut locking effect for the joint bolts, andmakes better provision for the expansion and contraction of the railswithout sacrificing efficiency to resist lateral and vertical stresses.

The above features are not obtainable with the ordinary angle barwhosetendency is to cant or pull in at the top when the joint bolts aretightened. In the present type of bar the action is such that when theends of the bar are pulled in until they bear against the underside ofthe rail head,

the lower portion of the ,bar, bearing on the top of the base flanges ofthe rails, will pull in with the bar, and, in thus pulling in, willslide up the base of the rail. This enables the entire bar to be drawninto final seating position without canting, and insures even contact ofall the bearing faces of the joint bar with the rail.

With/the above and other objects in view which will more readily appearas the nature of the invention is better understood,

including splice bars having the present invention applied thereto, andshowing the bars before the joint bolts are tightened. Fig. 2 is asectional end view on the line 22 of Fig.1 showing the foot of thesplice bar in contact with the base flange of the rail, and the end ofthe .bar head out of contact with the underside of the rail head beforethe tightening of the bolts. F ig.3 is a vertical sectional view also onthe line so j 22 of Fig. 1 showing the position of the end of the barwhen the same has been drawn in by the joint bolts, leaving the centralportion in its normal position. Fig. 4

is a horizontal sectional view of a bisected joint showing the ends ofthe bar bowed inwardly toward the rail webs. side elevation similar toFig. l, but showing a modification of the invention. Fig. 6 is avertical sectional view on the line 6-6 Fig. 5 is a of Fig. 5, lookingin the direction of the arrow, before the joint bolts are tightened.Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view on the line 77 of Fig. 5 looking inthe direction of'the arrow, after the joint bolts are tightened. 1

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several figures of the drawings.

In' carrying the present invention into efi'ect, any desired type ofjoint bar maybe employed, but as the invention possesses special utilityin connection with the effective distribution of metal involved in theThomson-Thomson type of splice bar, that form of bar is shown in thedrawings to illustrate a preferred application of the invention to arail joint. As will be observed from Fig. 1, the rails R and R are shownas being connected by a joint bar 1 of this type, the same including theusual head member 2, and the foot flange 3, the former having a fiatrail bearing face 4: for engaging the underside of the rail head, andthe latter having an under flat bearing face 5 for engaging the upperside of the base flanges of the rails.

In connection with the novel form of the invention shown in Figs. 11inclusive, it will be observed that the bearing face 5 of the footflange 3 lies in the same plane throughout the length of the bar, buthas its greatest distance from face 4 of the bar head at the center ofthe joint as indicated at 6. Theportions of the upper bearing face 4 ateach side of the center of the bar incline toward the ends of the bar asindicated at 7 thereby providing a bar of full section and fishingheight at its central portion, but of reduced section and fishing heightat the end portions thereof. Accordingly, with this section of bar, thecentral portion. thereof will,'as usual, directly and adjustably engagethe underside of the rail head and upper side of the base flanges .ofthe rails, while the bearing faces of the head member 2 at the ends ofthe bar will be out of contact with the underside of the rail head, thatis, before the bolts are tightened. This position of parts is shown inFig. '2 of the drawings. Upon the tightening of the jointbolts,'the'reduced end portions of the bar will be compelled to lift asthey are bolted in. This lifting action will be of maximum effectivenesson the central portion of the bar. That is to say, since the center ofthe bar initially and rigidly fits between the underside of the adjacentrail heads and the base flanges of the rails, it will remain in thatposition even when the joint bolts are tightened, as the only place forthe bar to yield is at the ends. And, as the joint bolts are all inhorizontal alinement, the bolting force is exerted in a plane .at rightangles to the outer face of the web of the joint bar,

and, therefore, a force in this direction, pulling in on the ends of thebar, will cause the face 5 of the latter torideup on the inclined facesof the base flanges of the rails.

This results in lifting the flat inclined faces 7 in the bar head intocontact with the undersides of the rail heads. Furthermore, it will beobserved that since the full section of. the bar occurs immediatelyadjacent the rail ends at the center of the joint, and entirely fillsthe fishing space of the rails thereat, the tlghtening of the end boltsE 1 will have a tendency to pull the central porof the fact that thecenter portion of the bar rigidly fits the fishing spaces of the rails.Accordingly, the central portion of the bar will be placed under aconstant and persisting pressure or tension by the pressure of the endbolts E assisted by the middle joint bolts M. This construction alsoProvides a more effective means for taking up the wear in the joint,particularly at the center there of, because of the capacity of thereduced bar ends for a greater range of inward movement under springtension. The bowing or flexing in of the ends of the joint bar towardthe rail webs is also of particular importance since it exerts anut-locking ef feet on the joint bolts, thus serving to maintain theefficiency of the joint, while at the same time more effectuallyproviding for the expansion and contraction of the rails under differentconditions of temperature. That is to say, since the bar is bowed undercompression by the end joint bolts, when the rails shrink under lowtemperatures, the latter will have a tendency to straighten the bars outor bend them back to their normal position, but in so doing will morefirmly wedge the central full section of the bars between the head andfoot of the rails, thus permitting the rails to move farther apartwithout disturbing the bearing support at the center of the joint. Underhigh temperatures when the rails expand the bearing surface of thecenter of the joint will be still rendered effective, because the endsof the bar may flex without disturbing the full section at the centerwhich supports the rails at their ends.

Another application of the invention is shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7 ofthe drawings. In connection therewith it will be observed that thestructural characteristics of the splice bar shown in this form of theinvention are substantially the same as that shown in the other. In thismodification, the features of a joint, bar having .a full section at thecenter thereof, and gradually and progressively reduced end sections, ismaintained, but to provide for a wider range of flexibility in the endsof the bar, the face 5 of the foot flange portion 3 may be formed withthe inclined faces 8 which diverge toward the center of the bar, andthus cooperate with the faces 7 at the top to provide a greaterreduction in the fishing height of the bar at the ends than in the formof the in- 120 vention shown in Fig. 2. In'other words, in this modifiedform, the central portion of the bar is of the same depth as the heightof the fishing space of the rails .at the normal distance away from therail web, and 125 central portion ofthe joint bar will as usual side ofthe rail heads and upper sides of the base flanges of the rails alongthe center of the joint, but the end portions of the joint bar, at boththe top and bottom, will be out of contact with the underside of-the'rail head and base flanges of the rail. Upon the tightening of the jointbolts in the modified structure, substantially the same action will takeplace as in the other form of the invention. That is, the ends'of thebar will be drawn in closer toward the rail Webs than the centralportion to thereby distribute the clamping effect of the end boltsdirectly to the center of the joint where the greatest clamping actionis desirable. Since, in both forms of the invention, the center portionof the bar is of the same height as the fishing space of the rails, itwill be clear that an accurate fit will exist between the bar and therails, whereby the outer face of the web will retain its'true verticalposition, and not cant or incline toward the rail head as is the casewith the ordinary type of angle bar when the joint bolts are tightened.In the present invention the chief flexing of the joint bar is lateral,instead of vertical, thus utilizing the yielding or flexing of the barto a practical advantage, while heretofore, it has been wasted and, infact, an injurious element in the maintenance of proper joint and trackconditions. That is to say, the flexing or bending of the joint barunder the compression of the joint bolts is, according to the presentinvention, converted into a 'Wedging or clamping force for the rail endswhich is of much practical and economical importance, since it providesfor more evenly distributing the wear on the joint parts, while at thesame time it provides for increased strength and rigidity in the zoneimmediately adjacent the rail ends. 7

Without further description, it is thought the many features andadvantages of the present invention will be readily apparent, and itwill, of course, be understood that minor changes in the form,proportion and details of construction may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A rail joint including a splice bar having a rail-clamping end ofless fishing height than the central part of the bar.

2. A rail joint including a splice bar of less height at the ends thanat its central portion and clamping the fishing space from end to end.

3. A rail joint including a splice bar fitting the fishing space closerto the rail webs at its ends than at its central portion.

4:. In a rail joint, a splice bar fitting into the fishing space for itsentire length but with the distance between the web of the rail and thebar greater at the center than at the ends of the bar.

5. A rail joint including a splice bar having longitudinal rail bearingfaces, the distance between the faces at the end of the bar being lessthan at the center.

6. A rail joint including a splice bar having longitudinally disposedoppositely inclined rail bearing faces.

7 A rail joint including a splice bar having longitudinal convergentlyrelated rail bearing faces.

8. A rail joint including a splice bar having longitudinal rail bearingfaces diverging toward the center of the bar.

9. In a rail joint, the combination with the rails and joint bolts, ofthe joint bars having clamping ends of less fishing height than thecentral part of the bar, said bar ends adapted to be flexed toward theWebs of the rails under'the compression of the joint bolts.

10. In a rail joint, the combination with the rails and joint bolts, ofthe joint bars having clamping ends of less fishing height than thecentral part of the bar, said bar ends adapted to be flexed inwardly andupwardly.

11. In a rail joint, the combination with the rails and the joint bolts,of the joint bars of reduced section at the ends, and of a full sectionat an intermediate point whereby the end sections may be drawn in towardthe rail webs to produce a longitudinally bowed.

bar.

12. In a rail joint, the combination with the rails, and joint bolts, ofthe joint bars having a full section at the center and a reduced sectionat the ends, the tightening of the bolts placing said full sectionpermanently under compression and drawing the ends of the bar toward.the webs of the rails.

- In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

WILLIAM P. THOMSON.

Witnesses:

BENJ. WOLHAUPTER, C. A. Drsnnow.

